NWF State loses 5th straight, falls to 4-6 in Panhandle

Northwest Florida State College’s Jack Crittenberger slides safely into third base while Chipola College’s Bert
Givens waits for the throw during Friday’s game in Niceville.

DEVON RAVINE | Daily News

By SETH STRINGER | Daily News

Published: Friday, April 4, 2014 at 10:22 PM.

NICEVILLE – Winning streaks typically have the same characteristics: Situational hitting, quality pitching, solid defense and a few good bounces here and there. But that secure feeling of invincibility can shift on a dime, and no one understands that better than Northwest Florida State.

The Raiders started Panhandle Conference play 4-1 but have since lost five straight, the latest a demoralizing 6-5 loss to Panhandle frontrunner Chipola Friday afternoon at Raider Stadium. It was the third straight loss to open a Panhandle series for the Raiders, who ever since sweeping Pensacola to open the league slate have lost a series to Tallahassee and were swept by Gulf Coast State.

As with the case with every game of their season-worst skid, there wasn’t one culprit but many Friday afternoon.

For starters, the Raiders (22-13) went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14, including the bases loaded twice. The struggles with men on base included stranding the tying run on second and winning run on first in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Even with the offensive woes, the Raiders still led 5-4 headed into the ninth inning. But on the doorsteps of improving to 5-5 in conference play and gaining ground on 5-4 Tallahassee, Mike Dolloff and James Granat couldn’t close out the save. Dolloff allowed back-to-back singles to lead off the frame and James Granat later allowed the game-tying and game-winning RBIs.

The blown save overshadowed the heroics of Ryan Fucci, who in the eighth inning lifted a nearly 400-foot bomb well over the fence in left-center field to give the Raiders a 5-4 cushion. The long ball was Fucci’s fourth of the season, and it provided the perfect counter to a pair of no-doubters from Chipola (29-7, 8-2) – Ian Rice with a two-run homer to left in the first inning and Danny Mars with a solo shot to right in the fifth.

The first blow was countered by the Raiders getting a pair of runs in the third inning on a catcher’s throwing error trying to nab Fucci at third on a stolen base and then a Hunter Bening RBI single to center. The second was followed by a Steven Jernigan bases-loaded walk in the fifth to knot the score at three.

Kodi Russ’ RBI single to bring home Jack Crittenberger in the sixth briefly gave the Raiders a 4-3 lead, but Josh Merrigan answered for Chipola with an RBI groundout in the seventh.

That represented the Raiders’ first blown save of the night, and earning the hard-luck no decision was Lucas Brown.

Brown – brushing aside a 50-minute rain delay in the fourth inning – outdueled University of Florida commitment Taylor Lewis by striking out three and allowing just three runs on eight hits over six innings. The right-hander left a 4-3 lead to Jeremy McKinney, who served up an unearned run in 1/3 of inning.

Also earning the no-decision was Taylor, who allowed three runs on six hits and three walks over five innings. Garnering the win for Chipola was Jo Jo Durden, who allowed one run in two innings of relief. Garnering the save was Palmer Betts, who got pinch hitter Jabari Gayle to pop up and struck out Fucci after inheriting runners on first and second with one out in the ninth.

The Raiders travel to Marianna today to play Chipola at 1 p.m.

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NICEVILLE – Winning streaks typically have the same characteristics: Situational hitting, quality pitching, solid defense and a few good bounces here and there. But that secure feeling of invincibility can shift on a dime, and no one understands that better than Northwest Florida State.

The Raiders started Panhandle Conference play 4-1 but have since lost five straight, the latest a demoralizing 6-5 loss to Panhandle frontrunner Chipola Friday afternoon at Raider Stadium. It was the third straight loss to open a Panhandle series for the Raiders, who ever since sweeping Pensacola to open the league slate have lost a series to Tallahassee and were swept by Gulf Coast State.

As with the case with every game of their season-worst skid, there wasn’t one culprit but many Friday afternoon.

For starters, the Raiders (22-13) went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14, including the bases loaded twice. The struggles with men on base included stranding the tying run on second and winning run on first in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Even with the offensive woes, the Raiders still led 5-4 headed into the ninth inning. But on the doorsteps of improving to 5-5 in conference play and gaining ground on 5-4 Tallahassee, Mike Dolloff and James Granat couldn’t close out the save. Dolloff allowed back-to-back singles to lead off the frame and James Granat later allowed the game-tying and game-winning RBIs.

The blown save overshadowed the heroics of Ryan Fucci, who in the eighth inning lifted a nearly 400-foot bomb well over the fence in left-center field to give the Raiders a 5-4 cushion. The long ball was Fucci’s fourth of the season, and it provided the perfect counter to a pair of no-doubters from Chipola (29-7, 8-2) – Ian Rice with a two-run homer to left in the first inning and Danny Mars with a solo shot to right in the fifth.

The first blow was countered by the Raiders getting a pair of runs in the third inning on a catcher’s throwing error trying to nab Fucci at third on a stolen base and then a Hunter Bening RBI single to center. The second was followed by a Steven Jernigan bases-loaded walk in the fifth to knot the score at three.

Kodi Russ’ RBI single to bring home Jack Crittenberger in the sixth briefly gave the Raiders a 4-3 lead, but Josh Merrigan answered for Chipola with an RBI groundout in the seventh.

That represented the Raiders’ first blown save of the night, and earning the hard-luck no decision was Lucas Brown.

Brown – brushing aside a 50-minute rain delay in the fourth inning – outdueled University of Florida commitment Taylor Lewis by striking out three and allowing just three runs on eight hits over six innings. The right-hander left a 4-3 lead to Jeremy McKinney, who served up an unearned run in 1/3 of inning.

Also earning the no-decision was Taylor, who allowed three runs on six hits and three walks over five innings. Garnering the win for Chipola was Jo Jo Durden, who allowed one run in two innings of relief. Garnering the save was Palmer Betts, who got pinch hitter Jabari Gayle to pop up and struck out Fucci after inheriting runners on first and second with one out in the ninth.